Apparatus for and method of preventing blow-out while removing a fish within wash pipe from a borehole

ABSTRACT

A tubular sleeve, having concentric walls at one end adapted to be connected with concentric pipe joints in a well bore, is provided with ports communicating with a ball valve containing chamber, intermediate its ends, so that the ball valve, when seated at the depending end of the chamber, directs fluid pumped through the sleeve into the annulus around the innermost wall and pipe joint to kill the well in the event it starts to flow and prevent a blow-out.

United States Patent t191 nu 3,867,985

, Wilkinson 145] Feb. 25, 1975 [54] APPARATUS FOR AND METHOD OF42,550,228 4/1951 Costin 175/237 w ILE 2,671,642 3/1954 Stokes |75/237lllslwwglTHN SVASH PIPE 2,947,363 8/1960 Sackett et al. 166/2242,962,099 ll/l960 Clark, Jr. 166/224 FROM A BOREHOLE 1 3,096,825 7/1963c|ark,1r. 16e/224 [76] Inventor; Thelton E. Wilkinson P'O. B0X 3203,120,872 2/1964 Anderson 1661/224 Houma, La. 70091 P l E J A L k rzmaryxammerames e'ppm [22] F'led Jan' l1 1974 Attorney, Agent, or Firm-RobertK. Rhea |21] Appl. No: 432,787

i571 ABSTRACT [52] U.S. Cl 166/224 A, 137/5195, 137/533 l1, A tubularsleeve, having concentric walls at one end 175/237 adapted to beconnected with concentric pipe joints in [51] Int. Cl. E21b 31/00, F16k17/24 a well bore, iS provided with ports Communicating [58] Field ofSearchv 166/315, 224 A; 285/133, with a ball valve containing chamber,intermediate its 285/137, 138; 175/215, 237; 173/62; ends, so that theball valve, when seated at the de- 137/533,11, 519,5, 109, 111 pendingend of the chamber, directs fluid pumped through the sleeve into theannulus around the inner- [56] References Cited most wall and pipe jointto kill the well in the event it 4 UNITED STATES PATENTS Starts t0 flowand prevent a blow-OUI.

1,547,461 7/1925 Steele 175/215 2 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures APPARATUSFOR AND METHOD OF PREVENTING BLOW-OUT WHILE REMOVING A FISH WITHIN WASHPIPE FROM A BOREHOLE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION l. Field of theinvention.

The present invention relates to oil field tools and more particularlyto a sleeve or bushing for preventing a well blow-out while pulling afish and wash pipe from the well. v

In oil wells some of the equipment being used is sometimes lost in theborehole, such as by the drill string parting, leaving the dependingportion thereof with the drill bit in the depending end portion of theborehole. It is'sometimes difficult to retrieve the fish lost in thewell, particularly in an uncased hole where the wall formation caves inover and/or around the fish. In this case a tubular string, commonlyreferred to as wash pipe or washover pipe, is run in the hole androtated around the periphery of the fish until a slip equippedmechanism, supported by the wash pipe, can engage with and grip thefish. Thereafter, the wash pipe and fish is progressively removed fromthe hole by successively unscrewing the respective joints thereof jabove the surface of the earth which is commonly called astripping-job."

In drilling wells a blow-out preventer is normally connected withsurface casing below the rotary table but cannot be closed in the eventof a well blow-out with wash pipe projecting therethrough.

2. Description of the prior art.

Most of the prior art patents disclose ball valve fluid flow controlsused for the purpose of preventing or limiting the flow rate to apredetermined quantity, such as disclosed by U.SV. Pat. No. 3,450,206 orfor filling up drill pipe while the latter is being run in the hole, asdisclosedV by U.S. Pat. No. 2,947,363 and for preventing fluid flow outof the drill pipe, as in U.S..Pat. Nos. 2,962,099 and 3,096,825. Otherpatents, such as U.S. Pat. No. 3,120,872, disclose a fishing tool whichutilizes a ball valve dropped in the annulus to direct fluid pumppressure laterally outward to wash junk, to be retrieved, to thedepending end of the fishing string.

This invention is distinctive over these patents by providing a tool tobe used at the top of a well string, primarily above the surface of theearth, wherein a well blow-out is prevented by connecting the tool tothe uppermost ends of concentric strings being simultaneously removedfrom the well bore. A ball valve within the tool closes the bore of theinnermost string and directs fluid pump pressure into the annulus formedbetween the strings to kill the well.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An elongated bushing-like sleeve has its boreenlarged intermediate its ends, for loosely receiving a ball valve andhaving a seat at one end of the chamber. The respective ends of thesleeve are adapted to be threadedly interposed between adjacent jointsof a drill pipe string. The depending end of the sleeve is provided withan annular outer wall threadedly engaging a pipe surrounding the drillstring. Ports, formed in the wall of the sleeve at its depending end,provide communication between the annulus formed bythe pipe string andthe ball .valve chamber.

The principle object of this invention is to provide an apparatus andmethod for connecting the uppermost ends of concentric tubular stringswithin a well bore and directing fluid pressure into the annulus formedbetween the tubular strings to kill the well in the event of animpendingblow-out.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a fragmentary elevationalview of a rotary table supporting the upper end portion of a wash pipeand a fish contained thereby;

FIG. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view, to a larger scale, of thetool and illustrating, by dotted lines, its connection with the fish andwash pipe shown in FIG. l; and,

FIG. 3 is a horizontal sectional view taken substantially along the line3 3 of FIG. 2 t

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Like characters of referencedesignate like parts in those figures of the drawings in which theyoccur.

In the drawings:

The reference numeral 10 indicates a fragment of a rotary table havingslips 12 which grip the periphery of wash pipe 14 containing a drillpipe fish 16 which is supported within the wash pipe by other slips 18.The tool 20 is sleeve or bushing-like and is generally cylindricalincluding a top sub 22 threadedly connected with a bottom sub 24. Thetop sub is provided with a box 26 at its upper end for connection withdrill pipe. The depending end portion-of the top subis diametricallyenlarged and its bore and the upper end portion of the bottom sub boreis diametricallyenlarged in cooperative tapered wall fashion to form a.chamber 28 loosely containing a ball valve 30 diametrically greater thanthe inside diameter of the remaining portions of the top and bottom subbores at their respective end portions opposite their threadedconnection forming tapered seats 32 and 34 so thatthe ball 30 may seatand close the sub boresat the `respective ends of the chamber`28. Thedepending outer limit of the bottom Asub forms an outer wall providedwithv a pin end 36 for threadedly engaging the upwardly disposed end ofthe wash pipe 14. The bottom sub 24 is further provided with a smallerdiameter coaxial mandrel portion 38 projecting at its dependingexternally threaded end beyond the depending limit of the pin 36 andforming an annulus 40 between the mandrel and pin 36. The threads 42, onthe mandrel, engage the upper end of the drill pipe fish 16.

The wall area of the depending end portion of the bottom sub is providedwith a plurality of ports 44 providing communication between thedepending end portion of the chamber28 above the valve seat 32 and theupper limit of the annulus 40 for the purposes presently apparent.

Operation In the event a well begins to blow-out while stripping out thewash pipe 14 and fish 16 the wash pipe and fish are temporarilysupported by the slips l2 and 18. The tool 20 is picked-up, as byelevators, not shown, and its threads 42 are engaged with the box at theupper end of the fish 16. A joint of the drill pipe in the rig orderrick, neither being shown, is connected with the tool box 26 and thefish picked up or lifted with respect to the wash pipe in order toremove the slips 18 and lower the tool 20 so that its pin threads 36 maybe engaged with the box at the upper end of the wash pipe 14. Both thefish and wash pipe are then lifted, by the tool 20, to release therotary slips 12 so that the tool connected wash pipe, fish and the toolmay be lowered through the rotary table beyond the position of ablow-out preventer, not shown, so that the blow-out preventer may beclosed around the drill pipe. Continued fluid flow or blow-out action ofthe well, forcing fluid upwardly through the bore of the vfish 16, istrapped or stopped by lifting and seating the ball valve 30 on the seat34 at the upper end of the chamber 28 so that blow-out action of thewell drilling mud or other fluids is directed downward into the washpipe through the ports 44. The rotary mud pump is then connected withthe drill pipe which pumps drilling mud through the bore of the top sub22, seating the ball valve 30 on the seat 32, at the lower end of thechamber 28, and throughV the ports 44 of the bottom sub and into thewash pipe to kill the well. After killing the well, the tool, wash pipeand fish are lifted above and supported by the rotary table slips l2 forremoval of the tool and continuation of the stripping job. Obviously theinvention is susceptible to changes or alterations without defeating itspracticability, therefore, I do not wish to be confined to the preferredembodiment shown in the drawings and described herein.

l claim:

l. In combination with a supporting structure for passing a well stringvertically therethrough, a well string extending vertically through saidstructure, and a tubular string concentrically contained by said wellstring, the upper end portions of said well string and said tubularstring being disposed above said structure, the improvement comprising:

, a sleeve bushing having one end portion adapted to be connected insupporting relation with said well string and said tubular string, saidsleeve bushing including a top sub coaxially joined with a bottom sub,the bores of said top sub and said bottom sub being divergently taperedfrom a point intermediate their respective ends towards their junctureto define a valve containing chamber intermediate the ends of saidsleeve bushing and a valve seat at the respective end limit of the valvecontaining chamber, said bottom sub havingat least one port in its wallforming a fluid passageway between its depending end and the valvechamber above the lowermost valve seat; and, a ball valve contained bysaid sleeve bushing normally closing the'bore of said bottom sub. 2. Ablow-out control tool for a well containing a pair of concentric wellstrings, comprising:

an elongated sleeve bushing including a top sub coaxially joined with abottom sub and adapted to be connected, at its depending end, with saidwell strings, the bores of said top sub and said bottom sub beingdivergently tapered from a point intermediate their respective endstoward'their juncture to define a valve containing chamber intermediatethe ends of said sleeve bushing and a valve seat at the respective endlimit of the valve containing chamber, said bottom sub having at leastone port in its wall forming a fluid passageway between its dependingend and the valve chamber above the lowermost valve seat; and, fluidflow direction control including a valve within said sleeve bushing.

1. In combination with a supporting structure for passing a well stringvertically therethrough, a well string extending vertically through saidstructure, and a tubular string concentrically contained by said wellstring, the upper end portions of said well string and said tubularstring being disposed above said structure, the improvement comprising:a sleeve bushing having one end portion adapted to be connected insupporting relation with said well string and said tubular string, saidsleeve bushing including a top sub coaxially joined with a bottom sub,the bores of said top sub and said bottom sub being divergently taperedfrom a point intermediate their respective ends towards their junctureto define a valve containing chamber intermediate the ends of saidsleeve bushing and a valve seat at the respective end limit of the valvecontaining chamber, said bottom sub having at least one port in its wallforming a fluid passageway between its depending end and the valvechamber above the lowermost valve seat; and, a ball valve contained bysaid sleeve bushing normally closing the bore of said bottom sub.
 2. Ablow-out control tool for a well containing a pair of concentric wellstrings, comprising: an elongated sleeve bushing including a top subcoaxially joined with a bottom sub and adapted to be connected, at itsdepending end, with said well strings, the bores of said top sub andsaid bottom sub being divergently tapered from a point intermediatetheir respective ends toward their juncture to define a valve containingchamber intermediate the ends of said sleeve bushing and a valve seat atthe respective end limit of the valve containing chamber, said bottomsub having at least one port in its wall forming a fluid passagewaybetween its depending end and the valve chamber above the lowermostvalve seat; and, fluid flow direction control including a valve withinsaid sleeve bushing.